Falling Hurts
by EmeraldEuphoria
Summary: Santana was not going soft, not for anybody, certainly not for Quinn Fabray. But the sight of the blonde crying might change her mind.


**A/N: Last year, during my finals, I went numb, emotionally. And, I was supposed to be studying for my Biology final, but I couldn't, I tried, I just couldn't. So I grabbed a notebook and a pen and I started writing this. In the end, I got a 3K word Quinntana fanfiction, and the right mindset to understand some of the things I was meant to study.**

**And the reason this was all tears and crying was because it was an outlet for me at that time, and I couldn't cry, so I made Quinn do the crying for me.**

**I just wrote this without any purpose, I didn't know what pairing this was going to be, I honestly wanted this to be Brittana (My OTP!), that's the reason for the texting :P then came Quinntana. When I reached the part with Santana at the door, I was like "Okay, I guess this is Quinntana!" And I had no idea what to do with this, that's why it ended up being so strange.**

**Also, I apologize for any mistakes! I just spent over 30 minutes typing this down. When you're all stressed out, your handwriting sucks apparently… I will go back and edit later… Maybe... I just can't read through it right now, I've read it about 6 times already, I'm sorry! But if you do find any mistakes, tell me and I'll fix them!**

**ENJOY!**

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Last period, Government. Except for a select few, the class were either sleeping, texting or staring intently at the clock waiting for school to end.

Glee club for the day was after school, so the glee kids at Gov. were of the first two categories; sleeping or texting. Rachel, Santana, Quinn and Kurt were scattered around the class.

Rachel was actually paying attention but was interrupting the teacher every few seconds to comment, Quinn was also paying attention and taking notes but she was doing it quietly and from the back of the class, Kurt was focused on his phone, doing god knows what, and finally: Santana. Santana Lopez was sitting at the very last desk, next to Quinn, and texting Brittany. The conversation was going something like this:

_How's it going, Britt? –S_

_I'm bored San :( -B_

Santana giggled a little, not that she would admit it.

_Aw! Screw ur teacher & talk 2 me :P –S_

_YAY! What do u have? –B_

_Stupid Gov w/ Quinn next 2 me, Kurt in front of me & Berry interrupting every gaddamn minute! –S_

_Poor baby, u should've taken Home Ec w/ me ;) –B_

Santana rolled her eyes, but remained smiling.

_I should've, shouldn't I? –S_

_The bell just rang B, cya in glee xo –S_

_cya :D –B_

Santana got up, stuffed her books in her bag and was about to leave the class when someone dared grab her arm. She stood there with her back to whoever grabbed her; shocked, staring at the hand, when Quinn spoke, "Santana could you.. Could you help me with this?"

That snapped Santana up; she pulled her arm away from Quinn's hand, then turned around.

She saw Quinn indicating her books, which were scattered around the floor, then raised an eyebrow at Quinn, "why would I want to do that, Fabray?"

Quinn looked down for a second, then looked up and said, "I… I knocked them down and…" she gestured to the ground with a sigh, "and they're not really.. they're on the floor.." Quinn was by now extremely red, and she almost looked ashamed.

Something seemed to click with Santana. She remembered Quinn's accident, her in a wheelchair, physiotherapy, Quinn standing up at prom, and she remembered the most important thing: Quinn still doesn't have full control of her legs, and reaching that low is close to impossible and is going to hurt like hell.

Even with that in mind, Santana didn't want to seem soft, so she stared at Quinn, with her arms folded, and an eyebrow raised expectantly.

Quinn bit her lip, shook her head and said, "Nothing, never mind, I'll get them.. you can go.." she looked down at her books, swallowed then, "Tell Mr Shue I'll be a little late, will you?" then Quinn turned and, it could've been the light, but Santana would've sworn there were tears in her eyes.

'Don't go soft! Not for Fabray!' she thought and with that she turned around and headed for the door.

Her phone vibrated, signaling a text, so she quietly leaned against the door frame and opened the text from Brittany.

_San! Where r u? –B_

Santana looked up upon hearing a whimper and saw Quinn, her books still on the ground, and she was leaning forward as far as she could, which wasn't much and she whimpered again, and sat on the chair behind her, folded her arms on the desk, and rested her head on them. She was breathing hard. Santana saw her shoulders shaking and for some reason the sight tugged at her heart.

She didn't realize she'd been staring until her phone vibrated again.

_SAN? –B_

Santana took one more glance at Quinn, and then typed a quick reply.

_Sorry B! Gonna be late. Helping Quinn! -S_

Santana then took a deep breath and –

Her phone vibrated again.

_Okay :) cya later xoxo –B_

Santana smiled, shook her head, threw her phone in her bag, and headed to the still shaking girl.

She was a few feet away when she stopped, not sure if she should say something first or not. She settled on the latter and walked the few feet over, kneeled and started collecting the books.

Quinn had been having her very own little pity party when the sound of someone next to her made her slowly lift her head and look directly at Santana, who was getting her books. Neither girl was sure what to do, Santana was positive Quinn had noticed her by now and Quinn had thought she was abandoned.

After collecting the books, the still kneeling Santana put them in Quinn's bag.

"I was going to leave your sorry ass here, but you looked pathetic so…" she said before closing the bag and finally looking at the other girl's tear stained face.

Santana lifted her hand then stopped, what was she going to do? Wipe Quinn's tears away? That would be beyond stupid, she thought, though she wasn't sure why.

So she got up and made sure to put Quinn's bag on her desk. 'Now what?' she thought. Before remembering that she was Santana Freakin' Lopez! She could do whatever the hell she wanted.

She sighed, "You good?" before remembering that no, the girl wasn't good, she couldn't even get her books off the floor, "I mean… can you get to glee okay?"

Quinn licked her lips, then quickly wiped her tears, "I…" she sounded just like she looked; as if she'd been crying. So she cleared her throat and tried again, "I can't… yeah. I think so…"

Santana rolled her eyes, "Really Fabray? 'You think so'?"

"Yeah, I…" Quinn started but was cut off.

"Get up." Santana demanded, which earned her a sigh.

Quinn wouldn't meet Santana's eyes, "I don't think… I mean…" she took a deep breath, "my legs hurt too much to move…"

Santana couldn't help but feel guilty, "Okay, so no glee?"

Quinn shook her head, "I was planning to head home…"

"And who was supposed to drive you?"

Quinn shrugged, "Joe said if my legs start acting up, he'd take me home…"

Santana sighed, "Can you walk to my car?"

"Not without support, the pain…" she looked confused, "Your car?"

Santana nodded, "I'm taking you home." She hesitated, "Or, I was _planning_ to take you home…"

Quinn looked surprised, "You don't have to…"

Santana rolled her eyes, and ignored the comment, "So if I _support_ you, you'll manage?" she looked impatient.

Quinn reluctantly nodded, "Santana, you really don't ha-" whatever she was going to say was waved off.

The Latina stared hard at her for a good few minutes, finally Quinn said, amused, "Just let me use you as a human crutch, Tana."

Santana looked at her, shocked. Nobody dared give her a nickname or shorten her name, only Brittany ever did that and it was only to "S, San or Santi".

The only person to ever call her "Tana" was Quinn and the last time she did that was almost four years ago, before all the high school crap.

Quinn also appeared shocked, she hadn't meant to let it slip, but Santana had looked so cute that she couldn't help it.

Santana recovered first, "A human crutch?"

Quinn was trying to read her, "Yeah…"

The raven-haired stepped closed and took the blonde's bag and swung it over her shoulder, then crouched a little, "Okay… come on then."

Taking a deep breath, Quinn tried to ignore the pain shooting up from her legs to her back and put her arm around Santana's neck. She thought she'd hid the pain well, but Santana noticed, "You okay? No pain?" she asked, while they walked slowly to the door.

Quinn shook her head, "Nope… Fine…" it came out breathy, no more than a whisper.

Santana stopped moving and thought over her next action, she was almost going to ignore the other girl's pain and keep moving when Quinn looked at her, "Tana….?" It came out painful, like she couldn't even get her full name out.

Mind set, Santana adjusted her arm on Quinn's back and put another around her knees and lifted her.

Quinn shrieked, "What are you doing? Put. Me. Down!"

Santana started walking, all the while thanking her Cheerios training.

"Santana-" but was once again cut.

"Look Fabray. I don't usually like you, heck; I can never even tolerate you. But you're sort of in pain because of me, so how about you shut up and stop pretending that those little steps we took didn't almost kill you." She was looking straight ahead.

Sighing, Quinn relaxed a little before resting her head in Santana's shoulder, "It wasn't your fault you know," she said softly, Santana started speaking with a "But-" Quinn tapped the other girl's lips with her index finger, "No buts. I was late this morning, woke up late, so I forgot my painkillers. And I didn't want to freak anyone out so I didn't tell anyone," she smiled a little, "sure, trying to get those books hurt, but it wasn't the cause."

All through that, Santana kept staring ahead.

But Quinn kept talking, "Thank you though, for helping me."

They reached Santana's car, so she didn't reply, just opened the passenger's seat and deposited Quinn and her bag before going the other side and starting the car. She then remembered Brittany and glee club. So she took out her phone and started a new text.

_Hey B, Quinn's not feeling well. Taking her home. cya later? Xoxo –S_

Then she pulled out of the parking lot. Her phone vibrated but she ignored it, knowing it was Brittany telling her something like "OK :) cya!"

The car ride was silent, except for the radio, which Quinn kept fiddling with and changing every few seconds, not allowing any song to finish.

Santana was the kind of girl who could listen to any type of song, she could even tolerate Rachel's show tunes, but the most important thing is, she never likes to change the channel that often, TV or radio, and it was beginning to annoy her. She had her hands tight, too tight, on the steering wheel and she kept repeatedly thinking, 'She's hurt. She's in pain. Because of you. Let it be.' So far it's helped. But there was still a good fifteen minutes 'till they reached the Fabray's, and Santana wasn't sure she could take any more.

After exactly two minutes, she snapped, "For the love of all things holy! Stop. Changing. The. Channel."

Quinn had gotten used to the silent, so she was shocked to hear the almost shout.

She looked over Santana's profile, who looked tense. Quinn smirked, "I forgot you hated that."

Santana knew that tone, "Yeah. If you keep doing that, I'll throw you out of my car. I'd like to see you walk home."

Quinn rolled her eyes, but still laughed a little, "You'd throw a poor, hurt, defenseless girl on the street? A girl who wouldn't be able to walk home?" she gasped, faking shock.

Santana hid a smile, "Whatever. Your poor little good girl act won't work on me, Fabray."

"And why's that?" asked Quinn.

Santana gave her a look and said, "'Cause I know you."

She looked back to the road, but Quinn kept staring at her, "Not as much as you think, Tana…" she mumbled with a sad smile.

Santana looked at her before focusing on the road, "Did you say something?"

Shaking her head, Quinn answered, "No. Nothing."

They were almost to Quinn's house and Quinn felt anxious, nervous, not wanting to leave, she chalked it up to missing her best friend.

"Hey, Santana, can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Santana replied, not really paying the other girl any attention.

Quinn waited until Santana looked at her, signaling she had her attention before asking, "You're dating Brittany, right?"

Santana looked shocked, before the car stopped, Quinn thought she was actually going to throw her out, when she noticed they were at her house, then she noticed something else, Santana was laughing.

Quinn marveled for a moment at her friend's beauty before asking, "What's so funny?"

Santana sobered up, "Wait, you're serious?"

"Well, you came out, admitted you slept with her… more than once at that… everyone's just assumed.."

Santana's eyes widened, "Everyone?"

Quinn nodded, confused, "The whole school…"

"Why?" Santana seemed to be genuinely asking.

"Well, um, Tana, you gotta admit.."

Santana held up a hand, "Okay, what's with this Tana shit?"

Feeling, strangely, a little self-conscious, Quinn replied, "What do you mean?"

"We're friends now?" Santana exclaimed, "After four years?"

They were quiet for a while, before Quinn opened the door and turned to leave, she seemed to have forgotten her injury, and hopped off, before falling to the ground at the amount of pain. That seemed to snap Santana out and she ran to the other side.

She dropped next to her friend and started to lift her up, "Quinn? Can you move just a little.. like that.. okay.." with that, Santana lifted her up and carried her to the front door after closing the car's doors.

"Where are your keys, Q?" she asked softly to the silently weeping girl in her arms, "Q? Your keys…"

Whimpering, Quinn got the keys from her bag and unlocked the door. When inside, Santana carried Quinn up to her room, laid her on her bed, and asked, "Where are your painkillers?"

Taking a deep breath, Quinn pointed to her bedside table, "First drawer…"

Santana nodded, got the pills, got some water and laid down next to the blonde, propping herself on the head board, she slowly lifted the girl until she had her all but lying on top of her.

"Here you go…" giving her the pills and water then putting the glass beside the bed….

They stayed like that for a while, silent but for Quinn's labored breathing. Until finally, the blonde seemed to calm down.

Santana swallowed "How are you feeling?"

Quinn, with her head resting on Santana's neck, took a deep breath, "Better.. Thank you…" she closed her eyes.

Santana looked at the blonde in her arms, "Q… I'm sorry…"

Opening her eyes, Quinn looked confused, "What for? You didn't push me out of the car."

Santana shook her head but didn't say anything.

The blonde, finally getting it, nodded, "Me too, Ta… Santana."

"You can call me Tana you know… if you want…" she said awkwardly.

Quinn smiled, "I thought we weren't friends…"

Laugh, they haven't done that in a while. It felt extremely good to both girls; leaving all the drama behind.

"Me and Britt, we're not together, we made out, slept together, but we're not together," Santana said.

Quinn pretended to understand, nodding.

Santana paused before asking, "What did you mean? Back in the car, when you said I didn't know you as well as I thought, what did you mean?"

"I never told anybody," Quinn started. Santana stayed silent. Letting the girl continue, "I honestly thought it was just a phase… it started last year; I'd be in the Cheerios locker room, the girls would be changing and I'd feel hot, my mouth would go dry…" she chuckled, Santana was shocked to say the least, but the blonde went on, "At first I thought it was because of Puck; I'd only ever had sex with him, I thought it was his fault somehow... Never did I think I was gay. Then slowly, but surely, I stopped having an interest in other girls, one by one, until…" Santana was scared for some reason, she wanted Quinn to go on, but she didn't want her to say it really was a phase, "until there was only one girl… She just won't leave me alone... Always there…" Quinn took a deep breath before revealing her next secret, "at Cheerios, and glee… Never giving me a break…"

Santana was experiencing this feeling of complete numbness, "Is that why you asked if Britt and I were together?"

Quinn nodded, feeling the need to keep talking, "I honestly fell for her… for…"

"You're in love with Brittany?" Santana seemed to wake up from whatever state she was in, "_In love_ with her?"

Quinn pushed herself up, so that she was face to face with Santana, "What? No. Not Brittany…"

Santana was staring at nothing, "But, Cheerios… glee, there's only me and Brittany," she seemed perplexed.

Quinn bit her lip to keep from laughing, "It's not Brittany."

Slowly, Santana met Quinn's eyes, "that leaves.."

"You," Quinn whispered, "Me," Santana repeated.

After a while, with Santana silent, fear started to settle into Quinn. So she started rambling, "But of course that's all me. I don't even know whether I'm gay or not, I could just be going through some phase. Totally not expecting anything from you…"

Quinn was praying for Santana to say something, anything.

"My mom should be relieved, huh? Me not-"

She immediately knew she'd stopped talking, but it took her a couple of seconds to realize she's being kissed, Santana pulled back, "you reminded me of Berry," then she was being kissed again, but the difference was, this time she was kissing back.

Quinn pulled back slightly, "So my competition's Rachel?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Santana smiled, "No competition."

They remained like this for a while, kissing and talking.

After four years of constant fighting, it seemed surreal for either girl to believe they actually liked each other that way, well, love in Quinn's case.

"You know I'm not in love with you? Not yet anyway," Santana whispered, running her hands through the blonde's hair.

Quinn hummed, "Yeah. It's okay. I kind of sprung it on you," she as drawing patterns on the Latina's arms, "I love your skin, soft."

After a while, Santana had to say something, "I'm not too surprised."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, she was almost asleep.

Santana smirked, "That I turned you gay. Have you seen me? I'm hot."

"You're not hot," Quinn said absentmindedly.

Santana froze, "Have you seen me?No, Q, really, look at me!"

Quinn hummed, on the verge of sleep, "You're beautiful, hot simply cheapens it."

With that, Quinn was dead to the world.

Santana looked at the sleeping girl in her arms and smiled, "I'm already starting to fall in love with you."

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**A/N: I wanted this to be Brittana where it would start out the same, and when Santana reaches the door, she texts Brittany telling her about Quinn and Brittany then demands Santana help Quinn. It was supposed to be a one-shot Brittana fanfic, about how Brittany has Santana whipped and about The Unholy Trinity's friendship… Supposed to anyway :P**

**Hope you liked it.**

**And, if you want to read more of my fanfics, since I don't think I'll be posting everything here, and I'll post on Tumblr first and maybe, if I have the time, I'll put it up here, anyway if you want to read and request stuff, do it on my fanfiction Tumblr which is on my bio :)**

**Cheers. **


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